Educator excellence awards highlight successes not recognized by state

Educators were awarded for capitalizing on opportunities to teach students beyond the confines of the classroom Tuesday at the Eastern Ohio Education Partnership’s Excellence Awards ceremony at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center.

The awards are intended to recognize educators who have achieved educational success with students outside of the metrics examined in state tests and report cards.

Seven awards were presented to winners who where chosen based on testimonials from colleagues and students arguing for their exceptional work in and out of the classroom.

Beyond the seven testimonial awards, an additional 75 awards were given to schools from Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties that scored well in at least one of the following areas based on the Ohio School Report Cards: attendance, high school math readiness, graduation rates, dual enrollment, matriculation, industry recognized credentials and career and technical education post-program outcomes.

Stephanie Shaw, executive director of the Eastern Ohio Education Partnership, said the awards are a way to highlight success stories that were overlooked by state reports.